While it is true that the Philippines’ agrarian reform program has loopholes that have been creating problems for the law’s implementation, the program has also paved the way to reverse the plight of some farmers.

LUCENA CITY—Alma Rabena, 44, a longtime tenant of the vast Hacienda Matias in San Francisco, Quezon, in the province’s Bondoc Peninsula, said this year would be her most memorable Christmas as she received on Friday her certificate of land ownership award under the government’s agrarian reform program.

Our analysis, and that of many communities and organisations across Asia, is that the CDM is an extension of the generalised approach to big project and energy intensive development that has systematically marginalised indigenous peoples and local communities and over- exploited the Earth. The “clean development mechanism” is, quite simply, a mechanism that allows polluters to avoid binding emissions reductions in one location, while shifting emissions to another location. At the same time, it allows corporations and state entities to reap additional profits from projects that are questionable in terms of sustainability, community benefits or even addressing climate change.

This was the simple yet powerful message from the ASEAN Grassroots People’s Assembly (AGPA), held November 13 to 16 In Phnom Penh and attended by about 4000 Cambodians and another 200 people from other ASEAN countries.

Smallholder agriculture is the foundation of Myanmar’s culture, and the bedrock of the nation’s local and national economies as well as food security. The country’s poetry, literature and art all reflect the prominent role of rural farming life.

Statement by political parties and civil society in response to the Second Commercial Farm Asia 11-12 Oct 2012, Yangon, Myanmar While disputes over land tenure in the region are on-going and cannot be settled, the lease and disposal of land to outsiders must not be permitted. Proper (...)

The current reforms in Burma/Myanmar are worsening land grabs in the country. Since the mid-2000s there has been a spike in land grabs, especially leading up to the 2010 national elections. Military and government authorities have been granting large-scale land concessions to well-connected Burmese companies.